Surasak Suwannachot and Surin Toptong - Thai men in court over Australian's death

TWO Thai men charged with the murder and robbery of Australian woman Michelle Smith will face a provincial court on Monday.

Smith, 60, from Joondulup in Perth, died on June 20 during an attempted robbery on the Thai resort island of Phuket.

Facing the Phuket provincial court is Surasak Suwannachot, 26, who is a accused of stabbing Smith in the chest during the attack as a group of Australian travel agents, on a familiarisation trip to Thailand, were returning to their resort.

Surasak then rode off on a motorbike with accomplice Surin Toptong, 37, leaving Smith fatally wounded.

Life sentence for travel agent murder

TWO Thai men have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering an Australian tourist they were trying to rob on one of Thailand's most popular resort islands.

The Phuket provincial court initially sentenced the men to the maximum penalty of death but commuted it to life imprisonment because they had confessed to killing 60-year-old Michelle Smith, said prosecutor Wiwat Kitjaruk. One told reporters later he didn't kill her, and both said they would appeal.

Mrs Smith had traveled to Phuket from Perth with colleagues to survey the island for their travel agency. She was walking back to her hotel after dinner on June 20 with a friend when two men on a passing motorcycle tried to steal her purse.